2009 Executive Committee actions

The NCHA Executive Committee met September 22-23 in Fort Worth to act on recommendations of the Standing Committees developed from the 2009 NCHA Convention in Denver. Among the major outcomes was a revised Non-Pro/Amateur structure, a strengthened policy on medication at shows and a new schedule for Triple Crown events.

Non-Pro, Amateur structure updated

The $20,000 Non-Pro will become the $35,000 Non-Pro beginning with the 2010 point year. The $10,000 Amateur will become the $15,000 Amateur.

A new “Non-Pro/Amateur Review Committee” will be established within the framework of the NCHA. This committee will be charged with reviewing and making the determinations on questionable Non-Pro and/or Amateur status applications, all Exception Rule applications along with reviewing and investigating possible Amateur/Non Pro rule violations.

The “Non-Pro/Amateur Review Committee” shall be appointed by the NCHA President with the approval of the Executive Committee. Members of the Review Committee shall each be either former Presidents, former members of the Executive Committee, former or current Directors or former Chair/Vice Chair of a Standing Committee of the NCHA. Membership on the committee will be reviewed annually. No person may serve as a member of the Review Committee at the same time they also serve as a member of either the Executive Committee, Non-Pro Committee or Amateur Committee.

New schedules

Beginning with the 2010 Super Stakes, the schedule for the Super Stakes and Summer Spectacular will be modified so that all Open competition is completed before the Amateur and Non-Pro competition begins. The NCHA Futurity schedule will remain as it has been. The tentative schedule for the Super Stakes will be published in the November issue of the Chatter.

Medication

To maintain the highest standards in treatment of horses and cattle, the NCHA has strengthened its penalties for violations of medication policy:

Rule 35.b4D "D. Administration of injectable or oral medications while in the show arena, practice arenas, alleys leading into the arenas or any other public areas of the show grounds is strictly prohibited unless administered in a life-saving situation which should be done based on consultation with a veterinarian. Any member observing activity that violates this rule should immediately report such conduct to the NCHA Executive Director and/or Show Management. If Show Management receives such a complaint, it is required to immediately forward the complaint in its original form to the NCHA Executive Director. The NCHA office will provide complaint forms to all show management for reporting a possible violation of this rule. Use of such form is encouraged, but is not required.

"Any reported violation under this rule will be treated as a complaint under NCHA Rule 37 and be considered in accordance with the procedures contained in NCHA Rules 37 and 38. No filing fee is required for reporting any violation under this rule. Each person found to be involved in a violation of this rule (including but not limited to trainers and their assistants or employees, owners and contestants) may each be subject to receiving the following penalty:

  • 1st Offense: $1,000 fine and 6 months probation
  • 2nd Offense: $5,000 fine and 12 months probation
  • 3rd Offense: $10,000 fine and 6 months suspension

These penalties can be increased as appropriate by the Grievance Committee or Appeals Committee depending upon the circumstances and the nature of the violation.”

Minutes from the September Executive Committee meeting will be available online and will be published in the Chatter. Following are other highlights.

Open Show

To allow for a fairer distribution of show dates, Standing Rule 6(k) which deals with the frequency of shows offered by any affiliate has been updated as follows:
k. Any affiliate will be limited to holding three (3) NCHA approved shows per calendar month, plus one circuit per calendar year, not to exceed seven (7) consecutive shows. A circuit is any show running four (4) through seven (7) consecutive days in the same arena. Said circuit may not be held during a month which already contains three (3) approved show dates by one affiliate. Two Affiliates will not be allowed to hold approved shows that follow each other at the same facility regardless of the number of arenas if the total number of days is four (4) or more. Any individual, management or organization without Affiliate status will be limited to holding two (2) NCHA approved shows (weekend or Limited Age events with less than $10,000 added) per calendar month. Only two (2) shows will be approved per week per facility regardless of the number of arenas. Non Affiliate approved shows will not be allowed to be held in conjunction with Affiliate approved shows if the total number of days is four (4) or more. Pre-existing Winter Circuits will be exempt. Exceptions may be granted to state, regional and county fairs. NCHA recommends that all Affiliates within their Area hold an annual meeting to determine the show dates to be submitted for approval for the next point year. (Special permission may be granted by the Executive Committee only if more show dates than allowed by this rule are requested by an affiliate, individual or organization.)

Standing Rule 3b, which concerns added money in limited age events held in conjunction with weekend shows, has been changed to allow for up to $9,999 in total added money for the Open and Non-Pro divisions combined.

In order to help contestants make plans and to help affiliates secure facilities and seek sponsorships more effectively, the Executive Committee approved the Open Show Committee’s request that locations for NCHA Weekend be selected by October 15, and that the respective Area Directors finalize the choices by November 15 of the preceding year. For example, Directors should finalize the 2010 NCHA Weekend locations by November 15, 2009.

The Executive Committee voted to make no change to the mandatory payout schedule at this time.

Limited Age Events

Beginning with the 2010 Super Stakes, the John Deere Division of the Open at Triple Crown events will be limited to riders with lifetime Open earnings of less than $200,000 at the beginning of the point year. The condition that allowed riders to compete in this class regardless of career earnings, as long as they had not earned $200,000 in the previous five years, has been dropped.

However, a Senior Division has been added to the Open of the Triple Crown events, beginning with next year’s Super Stakes. There will also be a Senior Division added to the Limited Non-Pro class. Similar to the existing Senior Divisions in the Non-Pro and Amateur, these will be a class within a class for riders 60 years old at time of entry, with non-working finals.

Other approved recommendations included the proposal to rotate cattle settlers every two years, and to allow the current 17 cattle settlers to work in both Will Rogers Coliseum and the Watt Arena, with five additional cattle settlers lined up who would be approved only to settle in the Watt Arena.

Affiliate Officers

In regards to the eligibility rules for the AQHA/NCHA Affiliate Challenge, affiliate standings may be determined by points or money, but any ties for 10th place will be broken according to the affiliate’s bylaws. An affiliate must produce three days of shows to participate in the Affiliate Challenge, and the show dates must be listed on the year-end standings report.

Non-Pro

Beginning in 2010, riders in the Non-Pro, Limited Non-Pro and Amateur divisions of the Super Stakes Classic and NCHA Classic Challenge can show up to four horses of any combination of ages from 5- to 6-year-olds.

A class-within-a-class Senior Division will be added to the Limited Non-Pro at all Triple Crown shows. The age limit will be 60 at time of entry.

The Non-Pro Wild Card round will be eliminated from the Super Stakes Classic and the NCHA Classic Challenge, but 25% of entries, to a maximum of 40 plus ties, will still receive a check.

Amateur

New members of standing committees will be appointed with the goal of balancing regional representation so that each committee will have at least one member from each of NCHA’s geographic Regions. Priority will be given to current directors as committee appointees.

Judges Rules

Rule 9,: Example 5.
NOTE: At the buzzer, loss of cow occurs at the moment the horse can no longer regain its working advantage and the cow leaves the working area of the horse; regardless if the rider’s hand is up or down. For a loss to occur during the work, the cow must return to the herd. Working area of the horse is defined as an imaginary line paralleling a straight line connecting the outer limits of the back fence and being in front of the horse’s head.

Standing Rule 21: “Each NCHA judge applicant and approved NCHA judge is required to sign the Judges Code of Ethics.” If approved, all judges will sign by January 1, 2010.

Standing Rule 21. f & g: “These applicants will be approved as AA until they successfully judge 6 shows without a valid protest, at which time they will be advanced to AAA.”

Rule 17 (fall to the ground): “the run will be terminated and no score will be given.” Delete “….that a cutter remounts and continues to work.” New wording for Rule 17 as follows: When a contestant is thrown from a horse or the horse falls to the ground, the run shall be terminated and no score (0) will be given. Example 1: While working a cow, the cutter falls from his horse one minute into the work. Ruling: The judge shall stop the run and score the run zero (0). Note: A horse is considered to have fallen to the ground when the horse is on its side and all four feet are extended in the same direction.

Continue signing and posting of signatures on the judges cards.

After a Judge Evaluation Form is received by the NCHA Judges Department, the appropriate Weekend Monitor will be requested to “spot check” the class or penalty in question.  If the judge’s monitor feels that it is a valid complaint, the Director of Judges will be notified. If the Director of Judges gives it a valid spot check, it will be noted for that judge. A judge who receives two valid spot checks within a 12-month period will be required to attend a judges’ workshop. His or her card will be on hold until the workshop is completed.

The fine for shows that submit unusable DVDs will be raised from $25 to $50.

Approved LAE Producers

Beginning with the approvals for the second half of 2010, Limited Age Events with added money of $10,000 or more can include one weekend show, if it is submitted for approval at the same time. At such shows, limited age classes must be included in each day’s schedule.

Long Range Planning

The NCHA Convention will continue to be held in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area every other year, alternating between the western and eastern United States in the other years.

The 2010 Convention will be held at the Hilton DFW (site of the 2008 Convention). The 2011 Convention will be held in the Nashville area.

A function honoring the Hall of Fame inductees will be a feature of the Convention each year. Inductions will be based on the end of the previous point year. (That is, 2009 point year inductees will be honored at the 2010 Convention).

Promotion & Development

A hospitality room for international visitors will be provided at the 2009 NCHA Futurity. An international subcommittee will be formed, with the likelihood of becoming an independent committee in the future.

Youth

The $2 National Championships fee for youth classes will go towards funding an additional $10,000 worth of Youth awards at each of the National Championship shows.

NCHA / AQHA Shows

Three options are available for producing combined NCHA/AQHA weekend shows.

  • Option A: Separate AQHA recognized cutting classes. (All-age, Senior, Junior, Amateur and Youth)
  • Option B: AQHA classes coordinated with NCHA classes.
    • AQHA All-age with NCHA Open
    • AQHA Senior with NCHA Open
    • AQHA Junior with $10,000 Novice
    • AQHA Amateur with NCHA Non-Pro or $50,000 Amateur
    • AQHA Youth with NCHA Youth
  • Option C: A combination of options A & B. Example: AQHA All age with NCHA Open and AQHA Amateur as a separate class.

For the draw, NCHA Standing Rule 11 shall prevail
In option B and/or C, all NCHA entries plus AQHA entries that have double entered shall be drawn first. All AQHA entries that are not NCHA entered shall be drawn second. All AQHA entries that are not NCHA entered shall work after all NCHA entries and appear on a separate judges sheet. All AQHA entries shall be denoted by number only.

  • AQHA double entries must be noted on NCHA judge's sheet.
  • AQHA entries that are not double entered do not need to be videotaped.
  • AQHA entries that are not double entered do not pertain to the NCHA weekend monitor program.

Contact AQHA for Approval details.